The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has awarded St. Luke’s Miners Campus a $1 million grant to help combat the opioid crisis.
St. Luke’s was one of 80 grantees in the country and one of only five organizations in the state of Pennsylvania to receive the award. These funds, part of HRSA’s Rural Communities Opioid Response Program, will be disbursed over three years to strengthen rural communities’ capacity to provide needed substance use disorder prevention, treatment and recovery services and to build the evidence base for interventions that are effective in rural settings.
“As the region’s leading health care provider, St. Luke’s plays a pivotal role in the fight against opioid use disorder,” said St. Luke’s Miners President Wendy Lazo. “We are grateful for the Health Resources and Services Administration’s financial support of this important, collective effort to improve the health and well-being of our community.”
According to government data, the St. Luke’s Miners Campus patient population is at high risk for substance use disorder, and the prevalence of opioid use disorder, opioid overdoses and opioid overdose mortality are all higher than national rates. Stigma, transportation barriers, and treatment cost prevent most patients from accessing resources needed for recovery.
The need for additional resources was established by St. Luke’s Miners Campus’s Community Health Needs Assessment, which also identified consortium partners, including the Panther Valley and Tamaqua Area school districts, Child Development Inc. (Head Start) and Schuylkill County’s VISION, among others.
St. Luke’s Miners Campus has established a steering committee—consisting of certified recovery specialists and rural partners such as rural health center staff, local treatment and recovery centers and grassroots and faith-based organizations—that will guide all planning efforts and will be instrumental in disseminating prevention, treatment and recovery information on services and resources.
“St. Luke’s Miners Memorial Hospital serves as a vital part of the community and helps to provide quality care to our residents,” said U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser (PA-09). “This important funding will expand opioid prevention and treatment service and help residents move towards recovery.”
